News
Friday Reads: Jewish American Heritage Month
May 17, 2024
In May we honor centuries of Jewish contributions to American culture and society for Jewish American Heritage Month. We’ve also included this year’s Jewish Book Award winners who were celebrated in March: Congratulations to our Penguin Random House authors! Thus, with education and celebration of Jewish-American culture and history in mind, please discover the following new and acclaimed books for adults and younger readers:
PRH Canada & U.S. Literary Treasure, Alice Munro, Nobel Literature Laureate, Dies at 92
May 14, 2024
Alice Munro, Photo Credit: Derek Shapton.
There's a Book for That: Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May 9, 2024
Welcome May and Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month! In honor of the occasion, we are featuring the following recent and acclaimed fiction and nonfiction which recognizes the history, achievements and experiences of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders:
There's a Book for That: The Earth!
April 24, 2024
We’re celebrating, and advocating for, our earth this week. In the lead-up to Earth Day on Monday, EarthDay.org organizers promoted the theme "Planet vs. Plastics," calling for a massive reduction in plastic production. There is always so much to learn about protecting this beautiful world. Here are recent and acclaimed books to help us appreciate its biodiversity and motivate us to improve our planet’s health:
Friday Reads: April is Autism Acceptance Month
April 19, 2024
Did you know that April is Autism Acceptance Month? “Autism Acceptance Month is a great reminder that we can and should see the individual, not a diagnosis, and work together to advocate for the unique services and supports that help each person live fully,” said Christopher Banks, President and CEO of the Autism Society of America whose motto this month is “#CelebrateDifferences.” At Penguin Random House we publish the following excellent books, for children and adults, that help readers do just that and see individuals, not diagnoses:
James McBride & Lauren Groff Honored on the 2024 TIME100 List
April 18, 2024
In its April 17 issue, TIME unveiled its annual TIME100, the 2024 list of their selections of the 100 most influential people in the world. The Artists category celebrated two Penguin Random House authors!
RHCB's PIPER CHEN SINGS Selected for Annual Read for the Record Literacy Campaign
April 12, 2024
Jumpstart for Young Children, an equity-focused early care and education organization, has selected PIPER CHEN SINGS, written by award-winning actress Phillipa Soo (Hamilton) and Maris Pasquale Doran, and illustrated by Qin Leng, for their 19th annual Read for the Record early literacy campaign. The campaign will culminate on October 24, 2024, uniting more than 2 million readers across thousands of classrooms globally to raise awareness of the need for early literacy and access to inclusive, high-quality books. The TJX Companies, Inc.- a longtime Jumpstart sponsor – will serve as the campaign’s exclusive presenting impact partner.
#1 NYT Bestselling Author Liane Moriarty Returns This Fall with HERE ONE MOMENT
April 11, 2024
On September 10, 2024, Crown will publish HERE ONE MOMENT, the eagerly anticipated new novel from international bestselling author, Liane Moriarty. The news was announced on Wednesday, April 10 and People Magazine published an exclusive excerpt, which you can now peek here.
With over 20 million copies of her books sold around the world, Moriarty is one of the most widely read and successful novelists writing today. She has multiple #1 New York Times bestsellers to her name and the cinematic quality of her work has made her Hollywood’s go-to author with three of her novels adapted for the screen, including the Emmy-winning HBO limited series, Big Little Lies. A modern-day Jane Austen, she has earned the devotion of a global readership thanks to her mastery of domestic drama, a writer who brings poignancy to relatable themes through irresistible characters, compelling scenarios, and deceptively sharp observations of human behavior and social dynamics—with a healthy dose of humor and wit. In HERE ONE MOMENT, Moriarty’s talents are on full display as she poses this unnerving question to readers: if you knew you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently?
There's a Book for That: National Library Week!
April 11, 2024
It’s time to share your love for libraries! National Library Week, an initiative of the American Library Association, runs from April 7-13th. This year’s theme is “Ready, Set, Library!” Running with that theme, we invite you to not only connect with your library, but also with some favorite books that feature libraries and librarians, below.
Meg Medina, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature will serve as Honorary Chair for 2024. Click here for ways to celebrate libraries and to read a message from Meg.
Watch Now: John Green's TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN Film Adaptation Coming Soon to Max
April 4, 2024
Max has released the trailer for their adaptation of John Green’s #1 bestselling novel TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN (Penguin Books), coming to the streamer on Friday, May 2. Directed by actress-turned-director Hannah Marks, Turtles All the Way Down tackles anxiety through its 17-year-old protagonist, Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced). It’s not easy being Aza, but she’s trying... trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts that she cannot control. When she reconnects with Davis, her childhood crush, Aza is confronted with fundamental questions about her potential for love, happiness, friendship, and hope.
There's a Book for That: National Poetry Month
April 4, 2024
“A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.”
―
From Black Creatives Fund to Debut Novel: Ballantine Books Releases Lattimore's ALL WE WERE PROMISED
April 2, 2024
In 2021, Ashton Lattimore, an award-winning journalist and former lawyer, became a participant in the Black Creatives Fund Revisions Workshop. Today, Ballantine Books is excited to release Lattimore’s first novel, ALL WE WERE PROMISED. ALL WE WERE PROMISED tells the story of a housemaid with a dangerous family secret as she conspires with a wealthy young abolitionist to help an enslaved girl escape, in volatile pre-Civil War Philadelphia. The narrative is told through the perspectives of three women in vastly different circumstances – the rebel, the socialite, and the fugitive – risking everything for one another in an American city straining to live up to its loftiest ideals. Publishers Weekly says, “[Lattimore] provides a textured view of such historical events as the building of Pennsylvania Hall as a meeting place for the antislavery movement and its subsequent burning by an angry antiabolitionist mob. Lattimore is a writer to watch.”
Glorious PRH Manhattan Night: ‘24 NBCC Fiction, Biography, Best Debut Authors Published by Knopf, Penguin Press
March 22, 2024
The first days of spring, and the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Awards March 21 Manhattan ceremony, have arrived almost simultaneously, bringing the fresh air of optimism about prospective cultural prizes for Penguin Random House’s books in the year ahead. A great start: Three of our imprints’ shortlisted titles, in the Biography and Fiction categories, and the John Leonard Prize for Best Debut, have been voted the 2024 respective winners by the members of the NBCC, which describes its annual Awards, celebrating its 50th Anniversary year: “considered among the most prestigious in American letters, are the sole prizes bestowed by a [national] jury of working critics and book review editors.”
There's a Book for That: Women's Historical Fiction
March 20, 2024
As we continue to honor Women’s History this month of March, it’s clear that novels about historical women are quite popular. Thus, we’ve curated some new and noteworthy fiction for fans of the genre, or any reader who may wish to learn about historical women in a fictional context. The following novels are sure to entertain and educate while you immerse yourselves in the fascinating lives of historical heroines!
Friday Reads: Irish Lit
March 19, 2024
"I will arise and go now, for always night and day/I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;/While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey/I hear it in the deep heart’s core."
- William Butler Yeats, from “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”
There's a Book for That: Workplace Lit
March 13, 2024
Workplace culture is evolving faster than ever! One aspect that remains the same is that recognition for hard work is important. At last Sunday’s Oscars, gratitude was expressed for the crucial teamwork behind the scenes. With the dynamics of teamwork and “workplace” in mind, dive into following acclaimed fiction and non-fiction, including a behind-the-scenes telling of The Office, a title examining toxic productivity, and a guide to reimagine home offices.
Al Pacino, to Publish Highly-Anticipated Memoir, SONNY BOY with Penguin Press
March 13, 2024
Penguin Press announced earlier this week that it will publish Al Pacino’s new memoir, SONNY BOY, on October 8, 2024. SONNY BOY is an astonishingly revelatory account of a creative life in full. To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. He landed his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by 1975, he had starred in four movies—The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon—that were not just successes but landmarks in the history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his life forever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actor landed in the culture with such force.The Penguin Random House Audio Team Has a Jazzy, Winning Night
March 8, 2024
(L to R): Matie Argiropoulos, Karen Dziekonski, Dan Zitt, Julie Wilson, and Kelly Gildea
Friday Reads: International Women's Day
March 8, 2024
Happy International Women’s Day! In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8 as the UN day for women's rights and world peace. This year, the International Women's Day theme is #InspireInclusion. “International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.” The following books celebrate women's achievement and raise awareness about discrimination:
Take a Ride with RHCB Author Events This March
March 7, 2024
Don’t miss out on these fantastic in-person events from Random House Children’s Books, featuring actress and down syndrome activist Mia Armstrong, essayist and climate justice writer Mary Annaïse Heglar, and perhaps join Lucy Knisley for a bike ride along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
See details below for these NYC-area events: